Moscow - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church said yesterday he was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Chechnya after the kidnapping of the church's last priest in the rebel republic.
The abduction of Father Zakhary and two church workers was a "new challenge to relations between peoples of the Northern Caucasus", said Patriarch Alexy II in a message to the Bishop of Baku whose diocese covers Grozny, the ITARTASS news agency reported.